The Lunacy Fringe

"Hey, Kid. How'd your day go?" my dad asked when he got home after work. I was sitting on the couch, slumped like usual. He set his stuff down in the entryway.

"It was fine, aside from the huge fight," I told him. He looked over at me with concern, but the corner of his mouth was twitching.

"You didn't get bit again, did you?" Then he laughed.

"Haha, very funny. But no. Felix and Jake went at it."

"Really? Why?"

"Jake sort of said some words that would get Felix riled up, and it worked."

"What kind of words?"

"You know, the ones most guys use to describe a girl who left them for someone else." He nodded slowly.

"I see. And Felix wasn't happy about that, I imagine." He approached the living room and took a seat on his favorite chair.

"Not. At. All."

"Are they okay?"

"I think so. Quinn and the guys pulled them apart. Then Quinn punched him."

"Why did Quinn punch him?"

"Those words again."

"Right. Not very smart to insult a sister and girlfriend at the same time."

"Exactly." He nodded and sat back, sighing with the relief of being home.

We were still watching TV a little while later when the phone rang. I jumped up to get it since ninety percent of the calls were for me anyway.

"Hello?" I asked, leaning into the doorway to watch the TV.

"Listen to me, you little bitch," a woman replied.

"Excuse me?" My dad must have detected my change of tone because he looked up sharply.

"You heard me! I hope you know I'm pressing charges against you and your little boyfriend!" I should have recognized that southern drawl.

"Listen to me, you old bitch. Your son got what he deserved."

"Your little bastard of a boyfriend attacked him!" She was really getting pissed now.

"It wasn't unprovoked! He was defending me from your asshole son!"

"Oh, I knew you were trouble from the moment I laid eyes on you!"

"Yeah, and I knew you were a raging bitch when I laid eyes on you!"

"Don't you dare talk to me like that, you little tramp!"

"Then don't call my house to insult me!"

"I have every right to insult you after what you did to my son!"

"I didn't do anything to your stupid son!"

"You broke his heart and ran off with some other boy! You call that nothing?"

"Well, maybe I wouldn't have run off if he could stop trying to rub his hands all over me!" I was getting pissed now too, but my dad wouldn't let it continue. He was at my side before I even noticed him move. The phone was jerked out of my hand and lifted over my head.

"Who the hell are you, and why are you calling my house?" he asked. I glared and crossed my arms. I could hear her yelling at him through the phone. "Okay. Look, lady. I'm going to go ahead and assume that fight was pretty equally matched. Your son isn't a small boy by any means, so don't try to play him off as a victim…." She yelled some more. "Defending himself, right… Well, I can assure you that your so-called 'case' will be thrown out. Number one, you don't have enough evidence to support your idea that your son was attacked unprovoked and defending himself. Two, the court isn't going to give a damn about a high school love triangle. Three, that girl happens to be my daughter, and we're going to have a lot of problems if you keep talking about her like that, understood?" She yelled some more. He leaned against the doorway and looked at me. I was fuming, but he seemed as calm and collected as Quinn had.

"Right," he continued. "Well, go ahead and call the police. You called my house first, remember? I won't say I told you so." He hung up the phone and turned back to the living room. I followed him out. "He wasn't just defending himself, right?" he asked before sitting back down.

"Who, Jake?"

"No, Mickey Mouse. Yes, Jake."

"Hell no, he wasn't defending himself. He started the whole thing just to piss Felix off. Felix definitely threw the first punch, but Jake egged him on."

"How does Felix look?"

"Like he got into a fight."

"Worse or better than Jake?"

"I don't know. I didn't really get a good look at him."

"Jake's bigger than him, right?"

"Maybe. Stockier. Why?"

"Because she sounded pretty serious about calling the police."

"She's just a dumb rich woman who can't handle the idea of her innocent baby not being a baby anymore."

"Did he really put his hands on you?" I glanced at him nervously.

"Maybe—once or twice."

"And what'd I tell you about how to deal with that?" I sighed and groaned.

"I was already planning on breaking up with him the last time they got into a fight. I didn't think it would matter."

"When was this?"

"The last day of school before winter break. Felix caught us and flipped out." He looked at me again, squinting as he tried to work the puzzle pieces together.

"What made him flip out?"

"I don't know."

"Ruby." I dropped my head back on the couch.

"He caught us arguing. I was crying. Jake had my arm, and I asked him to let go, and he didn't. Which Felix apparently heard. So he punched him. It wasn't a super big fight or anything. Jake had a black eye, and Felix's lip was bruised up. But it was easier to get them to stop. This last time, though. They just really wanted to kill each other." My dad turned back to the TV, but I could see he was starting to grind his teeth. He had his arms crossed over his chest. I was pretty sure I'd see steam coming out of his ears any second.

"If I ever see that little punk again, I'm gonna choke him."

"Yeah, well. Felix might beat you to it."

"Can you call him and ask him to come over, please?"

"What?"

"Ruby." I groaned again and got up to call him.

"My dad wants to talk to you," I said when he answered.

"Did I do something wrong?" he replied.

"I don't think so. I think you'll get to keep your fingers this time."

"This time. Alright. I'll be over in a minute. Miss your beautiful face." I snorted.

"You're such a dork."

He snickered and hung up, but it didn't take long for the doorbell to ring. My dad was tall and lanky and got to his feet before I could even scramble off the couch. He let Felix in, and I winced at the sight of him. It looked much worse than before. His lip was swollen, and his whole cheek was purple up to his eye.

"Shit, man," my dad said, clapping him on the shoulder like this was a manly bonding experience. "Look at you." Then he turned to me and jerked his head toward the stairs. "Can I talk to him alone?"

"What? Really?" He gave me a stern look, obviously seconds away from saying my name in that tone again. So I reluctantly got up to stomp up the stairs. But I popped my door back open to listen.

"Ruby said you wanted to talk to me," Felix started.

"Yeah, go ahead and take a seat. Nothing bad, I promise. You look like you're ready for a lecture."

"Well, last time you wanted to talk to me, you threatened to cut off my fingers. So yeah, I'm a little cautious."

"And look at that—you still have all your fingers. So guess that means you took my advice."

"Guess so." He didn't. He'd had his hand up my skirt not two days ago. But that was with my permission, so I guess it didn't count.

"I just wanted to know what the hell happened today," my dad started. "It involves my daughter, so I'm a little concerned."

"Well—got into a fight—as you can see."

"Yeah, Ruby said Jake was calling her some names."

"Yep."

"What names exactly? She didn't elaborate."

"Uh—nothing nice. Slut. Whore. That kind of thing." My dad went silent for a moment. I could picture them both fuming on the couch as if they were my gentlemen rescuers.

"Here, you should put some ice on that," my dad said, voice moving to the kitchen.

"My mom already gave me a steak."

"A steak? That sounds unsanitary."

"Thanks," Felix said when he returned.

"Ruby said this isn't the first time you two have gone at it."

"No. Once before. But it wasn't as bad."

"What were you fighting about that time?"

"She never really told me what happened. I just came down the hall, and he had her by the wrist. She was crying. It just didn't look right. She was upset."

"So you punched him?"

"I didn't even think about it."

"She never told you why she was upset?"

"No. I guess I never asked. They broke up, so it didn't come up again."

"Well—from what I could gather—it sounds like he was getting a little too handsy with her. She didn't like it." They both went silent again.

"I hate him so much," I barely heard Felix hiss.

"Yeah. That's why I wanted you to come over. I wanted to thank you."

"Thank me? For what?"

"For defending my daughter. Even when she wasn't your girlfriend, you looked out for her. I appreciate that."

"Oh—well—of course. I care about her. I mean—I would have done it anyway. But…."

"I got it. I also wanted to give you a heads-up, though. Jake's mom called over here threatening to press charges." Felix groaned.

"Fantastic," he muttered.

"I don't think it's anything you'll have to worry about. Just make sure your mom takes some photos of your injuries. Don't talk to Jake if he tries to confront you again. I don't think it'll go far, but tread carefully."

"This is the last thing I need right now. My mom's gonna kill me."

"Well—I've got your back. You can go up and talk to Ruby now if you want. I just wanted to talk to you alone because I didn't want to embarrass her."

"Alright. I'll be back then." I heard them stand, so I quickly scrambled to my feet again. I was sitting in my chair, gently moving myself from side to side, when Felix came in.

"Interesting conversation?" I asked. He smiled and came to sit on the bed before me.

"You were listening, weren't you?"

"Of course." He leaned on his knees and looked away, expression serious again.

"You never told me what you guys were arguing about. I didn't know he'd touched you." I shrugged.

"It's not a super big deal. He was just getting a little too friendly."

"It made you cry."

"I just panicked. He was insistent, is all. He didn't understand why I wouldn't let him. He didn't realize I had feelings for someone else."

"Doesn't matter. He should have stopped when you asked him to. He shouldn't have tried to push it. I know you feel guilty for what happened, but I've known him longer than you. He's not the nice guy he pretends to be."

"I know. I wasn't—I wasn't mad at you for hitting him, you know?" He looked back up at me.

"You went to the dance with him the next day," he reminded me. "How long were you planning on sticking it out?"

"It didn't feel right to do it before the dance. But I was planning on doing it during winter break so we'd have enough time to deal with things before going back to school."

"Were you afraid of him, Ruby?"

"No. He was usually really gentle."

"Usually." I shrugged again.

"I think he was just starting to get antsy, is all."

"Because he wanted to get laid."

"Probably."

"That's no excuse."

"I know. I get it. What about Candy?" I wanted to change the subject. I felt like I was being scolded for bad life choices. "How long would you have stayed with her if Jake and I didn't break up?" He shook his head.

"I think I was already at the breaking point when I saw you dancing with him. I probably would have lasted until the end of one more song before I ripped you out of his arms. I couldn't stand seeing you together, especially with those jasmines in your hair. I knew you wore them for me. No one else would understand that choice." I picked at the blooming hole in the denim on my knee.

"I wore them because I wanted you to see me again." He took a deep breath and reached out to take my hands. His knuckles were bruising, but he didn't seem to notice. He lifted my hand and kissed my fingers.

"You mean the world to me, Ruby," he said. I leaned forward so that we were eye-to-eye. "If anyone ever touches you like that again—you need to tell me. I don't care if things don't work out between us and you hate me—I'll always be here to defend you, okay?" I smiled and leaned down to kiss him.

"I will, Felix," I told him. "If you promise not to punch everyone who insults me." He smiled crookedly.

"Fine. Deal." We shook on it. Just in case.